REBORN IN AMERICA


This mandala I painted for my friend Reggie, a Capricorn with Leo rising and the moon in Cancer. The other symbols were in part his choices in part my ideas. Notice the pink flower in the upper right. The lips there signifies his obsession with sex. The speciality of the house I shared with three students in Santa Barbara was costume parties produced by Reggie and Mary with themes such as «The Phantasy Festival», «The Annual Convention of Sensual Wizardry» and this one:


It was after midnight when many of the guests had left that the free-spirited coregroup dug into their wildest desires with extasy. These people were beyond categorizing sexual experiences and at every event I found one eager to explore the same-sex love that is my preference. I would also sometimes defy my usual limits and make out with a woman. It was good; it cannot be denied that men and women physically are shaped to pleasure each other. For me it is the longterm emotional aspect in a relationship that doesn't work out with women. And to me men are just more exiting!
Mary was an inspiration to me as an artist. Here she is working:


I did all kinds of stuff: drawing and painting, figurative and non-figurative, and I also set up a darkroom and did black and white photography. There was two boys living a few houses away and they were attracted to the artistic atmosphere of our house and became part of the family. The oldest was an eager photo model; here are some of my favorite shots of him:




His little brother lived in Davis; I loved him best. When he moved to Santa Barbara later he became my boyfriend.


His mother knew that he was gay and New Years eve, when he had dinner with us, she came in, slightly drunk, and gave a little speech saying she felt good about him beeing with us – something she would not have admitted to when sober.
We were together more than three years, though most of the time in a long distance relationship. Later he wrote me that it had been the best time in his life.

This picture is of our dining table that I had painted: